Chapter 354: Ninth‑Level Pinnacle

Lei En looked at the Iron Crown, his heart wavering.

Imperial Armament, the Black Emperor's exclusive Divine Technique, is equivalent to a Superlative Element at four rings, a Legend Element at advanced seven rings, let alone nine rings.

Whether it's a constant spell or a Divine Technique, neither is easy.

The higher the ring count, the greater the difficulty.

Moreover, constant spells and Divine Techniques differ from ordinary enchantments; once constant they have no usage limit, can act as a permanent state or trigger passively under certain conditions. This is a more refined method than enchantment, even Legend casters find it hard to master; the first choice is to constant some protective spells for oneself to avoid being killed by instant‑death spells or to guard against melee ambushes.

Generally, constant spells and Divine Techniques are at six rings or below.

For seven‑ring spells and Divine Techniques, only Holy Soul Wizards are qualified to attempt constanting, with a low success rate. Each additional ring thereafter multiplies the difficulty.

The Iron Crown constanted a Nine Ring Divine Technique, surely a Legend Grade item.

Only deities can almost achieve that.

The Nine Ring Imperial Armament consumed the Black Emperor's entire divine incarnation's divine power; for him it was far from easy, one could even say it was extremely generous.

An immensely powerful Legend equipment is within easy reach; claiming you're not tempted is false.

Lei En, having just witnessed the Imperial Armament's amplification, knows that if he wears it, with the population and territories he governs, the effect would surely be several times stronger than Caligula's!

But Lei En does not dare.

This is the Black Emperor's temptation, also an overt scheme.

If he cannot resist the lure of power and dons this black crown, he will become a pawn the Black Emperor inserts into the Empire, leveraging the Empire's overthrow, striking the God of Magic's most faithful faith nation, and weakening the goddess's divine power.

As a mortal caught between two mighty deities, he could at any moment be crushed like an ant.

Lei En does not want such a tragic end.

Yet a Legend Grade item cannot simply be left here; later he'll consider what to do with it.

He bent over to pick up the Iron Crown, paused a moment as his fingertips were about to touch, then lifted it. The Iron Crown weighed far lighter than expected, only about three pounds, icy to the touch, appearing forged of black iron, yet it was not metal but some unidentifiable exotic material.

Lei En did not examine it closely, and stored it in his Dimensional Space Ring.

"Hoo…"

At that moment he finally had time to check his phone screen, discovering the battery had risen to 99% but stopped there.

Of the nearly three‑thousand‑person army, Lei En only absorbed about two‑thirds; the remaining souls, because the enemies fled farther, were beyond the absorption range.

That many souls propelled him in one breath to a Nine‑level Wizard.

After the two Extreme Warrior captains rose to Legend, Lei En kept the remaining souls for himself; together with Caligula the Legend tyrant, he thought he could reach full battery and re‑enter Soul Ascension, but instead got stuck at 99%, just one unit short.

Lei En frowned; this was clearly no coincidence, but a bottleneck before advancing to Legend.

Whether human or other race, all must undergo this step.

At this time the Extreme Warriors and Gun‑Wing Knights had already assembled, gathering around.

Three hundred Gun‑Wing Knights rode bronze steeds, ten per squad, lined up in perfect order, each face showing uncontainable excitement. Their first battle was a great success, only a few sustained minor injuries, no deaths, creating a miraculous, brilliant record.

This gave the Gun‑Wing Knights, who were mere ordinary people months ago, a huge boost of confidence.

The Extreme Warriors, battle‑hardened, were relatively calm; only the two captains who had just risen to Legend were extremely excited.

"Let's enter the city."

Lei En encouraged everyone with a few words, leapt onto his bronze steed, and led the way back.

Astat's city gates had opened, Marius led his people in the loudest cheers, and every combatant received heroic treatment.

That night, Astat held a grand celebration.

Not until late night did Lei En return to the lodging Marius had arranged for him.

As soon as he entered the room, he sat on the bed and began meditating; once his mind was calm, he took out the soul stone containing the Great‑Spear Horned Beetle's demon soul and pressed it to his forehead.

The Great‑Spear Horned Beetle is only a Mid-stage demon soul, not very powerful.

This was the third fusion after a Soul Transformation, the conflict was intense, yet Lei En's abundant experience let him carefully maintain the beetle's demon soul, climbing step by step from the World Tree's roots upward; whenever the clash grew severe, he suppressed it with soul‑force vibrations.

"Hoo…"

After a dozen minutes, the fusion completed.

Lei En looked at the World Tree within his soul; a brand‑new branch sprouted at the treetop, bearing six leaves.

The Great‑Spear Horned Beetle possesses six Elements; besides the "Lightning Affinity" he most desires, there are Charge, Lightning Arc, Tier‑3 Toughness, Tier‑5 Strength, and Destruction Critical Hit.

Charge, Lightning Arc and Toughness are already present, of no use.

Tier‑5 Strength seems high, but compared to his already Ninth‑level Strength, it is far lacking, only nudging the strength progress bar a few ticks.

What draws Lei En's attention most is "Destruction Critical Hit".

It is the melee Element he has long awaited, capable of unleashing multiplied power in an instant, destroying a target with pure destructive force.

Destruction Critical Hit is a Rare Element, currently at Tier‑2, able to double strength.

Its potential far exceeds that of "Heavy Hit".

Tier‑5 Heavy Hit can only triple burst power, whereas Tier‑3 Destruction Critical Hit already reaches the same effect, and as its level rises it will inevitably become his finishing move.

Previously each time he fused a new demon soul, the battery would jump a notch.

Even though the Great‑Spear Horned Beetle is only a Mid-stage demon soul, and the fusion incurred considerable loss without ultra‑high fusion degree, it should still provide a few battery ticks.

Yet Lei En found his battery still stuck at 99%, unmoving.

"Looks like we've truly hit a bottleneck."

He carefully admired the World Tree in his soul; compared to when it first sprouted, it has grown countless times, like a towering giant tree.

Its branches are lush, dozens of Element runes glittering.

Among them are two Legend Elements and eight Superlative Elements; the rest are at least Rare Elements, and no Ninth‑level transcendent could possess greater power.

"Finally the Ninth‑level pinnacle."

Lei En sighed contentedly; in just over two years he rose from ordinary to this point, and across the entire Ai Lun E Si world it can be called a miracle.

The next consideration is advancing to Legend.

(End of chapter)